


Smoke and Mirrors

by slashedsilver



Category: Sungkyunkwan Scandal
Genre: Crossdressing, M/M, Protectiveness, Undercover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-13
Updated: 2011-04-24
Packaged: 2017-10-18 00:38:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/183074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slashedsilver/pseuds/slashedsilver
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the Jalgeum Quartet is confronted with a serial rapist, Yong Ha is the one who must go undercover to ferret him out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [drabble365days](http://community.livejournal.com/drabble365days/), for the prompt _appearance_.

"I don't see why I'm the one who has to dress like a girl." Yong Ha's voice is plaintive. "Why not pick Yoon Hee? Who actually _is_ a girl, if no one else has noticed."

Jae Shin swallows a sharp retort -- they've already been through this more than ten times, but Yong Ha likes to make his complaints heard. Particularly when it concerns his outward appearance.

Sun Joon is the one who politely, if a little absently, repeats the explanation, as he loops the _goreum_ neatly and fastens it in place. Jae Shin thinks Sun Joon is a little too experienced at the manoeuver. "Senior, you know it would be too dangerous for Yoon Hee to be the one to lure the rapist out. What if we should lose sight of her? It would be too late if anything should happen."

"Basically, you're expendable," Jae Shin adds, just to see Yong Ha's face scrunch up in annoyance.

"Don't be mean," Yoon Hee chides. "Senior, don't worry, we'll be right behind you. You know how important it is for us to catch this despicable person. His behaviour has sullied the reputation of the men in this village, and threatened the feeling of safety of the women who live here. We can't let him just roam around freely, doing whatever he wants whenever he wants to." Yoon Hee is the one who brought up the case to the quartet's attention, and given their propensity for danger and eagerness to see justice done, the other three quickly agreed to work together to bring the rapist down.

"It's not like I could fight him off if he really caught me," Yong Ha sniffs, but Yoon Hee's words seem to have refocused his determination. Yoon Hee tends to have that kind of effect on people.

Jae Shin realises where his thoughts are wandering, and flushes a hot red. Even after months of coming to terms with the fact that Sun Joon is the one Yoon Hee likes, there are times like these that he would forget, and nurse his crush on her again. He catches Yong Ha watching him knowingly, and coughs deeply into his hand so that he can turn away and break the gaze, before he embarrasses himself any further.

"All right, everyone out!" Yoon Hee announces. "I'm going to do his make-up."

Jae Shin wonders briefly why make-up needs to be done in private, but obediently lopes out of the door to wait outside with Sun Joon.

It's awkward silence for a while, until Jae Shin remembers that he has to try to get along with Sun Joon. He racks his brains for something to say, as he opens his mouth to offer a comment.

Sun Joon beats him to it. "Do you think we can really catch the rapist?"

It's uncharacteristically uncertain for someone like Sun Joon, and Jae Shin glances over to where he is staring fixedly into the sky. Jae Shin clears his throat, and says gruffly, "You know Daemul would never give up until we did."

That wins a small chuckle from Sun Joon. "It's just -- we've never done something so dangerous before. And to send Yong Ha out like that -- do you think he'll be safe?"

And of course Sun Joon would be concerned about selfishly keeping Yoon Hee safe while sending out someone else into the fray. Jae Shin should have seen it earlier.

"Yong Ha has been taking care of himself for years. He'll be fine." Jae Shin doesn't add that he's been watching over Yong Ha with his quick fists for almost as long as Yong Ha has been bailing him out of difficult situations with his quick words. He will _make_ sure that Yong Ha is fine.

The door chooses that moment to press open, and the sudden light spilling onto the corridor makes Jae Shin blink for a moment or two.

"All right, we're done!" Yoon Hee says, giving a quick push to the figure at her side. "Are you both ready to go? Have you brought everything you need?"

But Jae Shin is distracted by the sight of Yong Ha furiously flushing under the layer of powder and rouge on his face. He suits the hanbok spectacularly well, silken cloth softly falling around him, and hat tied neatly with a ribbon under his chin. If anyone didn't look carefully, he would have thought she was a particularly well-off gisaeng on her way to entertain for the night. If the rapist didn't look carefully --

Jae Shin thinks, _I'm going to give everything I have to make sure he stays safe tonight_ , and is surprised by the vehemence of the thought.


	2. Chapter 2

It's an uncommonly dark night. Traisping carefully down the main street with his  _hanbok_  wrapped around him, Yong Ha tries not to notice, focusing on taking smaller, daintier steps instead.

A gaggle of gisaeng walks past him chattering, and two or three exchange warm smiles with him as they walk past. Used to being on the receiving end of openly flirtatious gazes from the gisaeng, Yong Ha is momentarily taken aback by the companionable interaction, which was offered comfortably and demanded nothing in return. He remembers a little belatedly that he is playing a role, and he lowers his eyes hurriedly, offering what he hopes is a conservative and respectful smile to his seniors.

Being a woman is  _tough_. Yong Ha is never going to make fun of Yoon Hee again.

At that thought, Yong Ha turns back as surreptitiously as he can to see if the three of them are still following him. They are -- Yoon Hee with her nose tucked behind a book as a poor cover, shooting him a covert glance, Sun Joon trying to ward off the positive interest of the gisaengs as politely and gently as he knows how... and Jae Shin absolutely nowhere to be seen.

Before he can really think about it, Yong Ha feels a dismal pang of abandonment, and then he has to struggle to make sure it doesn't show on his face. As unpredictable as Jae Shin is, he wouldn't have copped out on their operation, right? After all, Yoon Hee is involved as well. Even if not for Yong Ha himself, Jae Shin would at least be there for Yoon Hee.

But maybe he feels disgusted at the way Yong Ha dressed up to catch the rapist. He remembers how he embarrassed he was at first, when Yoon Hee was helping him to put on the make-up. How Jae Shin never even said a word when he saw Yong Ha, when even Sun Joon had commented admiringly that Yong Ha was definitely the best candidate of the three of them to carry it off. How Yong Ha could only feel thankful that the make-up was so thick. How Jae Shin never even hiccuped -- just studied him with an intensity that made him avert his own gaze. Maybe he was remembering how Yoon Hee had looked when  _she was_ dressed up as a gisaeng.

He glances behind him again to see if he's somehow missed Jae Shin skulking somewhere with the other two.

A voice floats out of the dark shed next to him, giving him a terrible fright. "Stop looking behind, idiot, you'll attract attention to the two of them." It's Jae Shin's disembodied voice, low and sharp. 

"You're the idiot," Yong Ha mutters childishly. Of all his friends, Jae Shin is the only one who can make him feel twelve years old all over again. He knows Jae Shin never means it, but old habits die hard, and Yong Ha looked up to Jae Shin as a role model long before they became friends. It's only natural that Jae Shin's words and opinions mean that much more to him.

He dips his head as casually as he can, hoping the dark veil draped over his hat is enough to cast his face into shadow. His insecurities are his own problem. Maybe one day he would finally outgrow them.

Preoccupied, he does not notice that he has taken a turn into a dead end, until he is staring dismally up at the wall in front of him. He's taken a wrong turn. Jae Shin is going to  _kill_  him. 

He backs nervously out of the alleyway. He is just about to make it when a hand shoots out suddenly, and grabs his arm.

Yong Ha swallows a scream. His first reaction is that it must be Jae Shin. His second is that even Jae Shin is not that rough with him.

The hand stills. "That's not quite right," a low voice murmurs. "Are you a boy? Are you one of them scholars?" The voice turns silky soft. "Did you think you could fool me?"

Yong Ha's head is a garbled gibberish of  _no, Geol Oh, where are you_  as the man backs him into the wall. His hands come up automatically to defend himself, but as he has forlornly discovered some time back, all the self-defense tactics Jae Shin has tried to teach him tend to leave his consciousness when he's actually faced with a real situation.

The man bats his hands away, then stops to smooth a touch over his wrist. "They certainly picked a good one here, didn't they? Your skin's like porcelain..." He reaches a hand towards Yong Ha's face, and Yong Ha recoils from his questing fingers and the smell of rust and sweat.

"Look, sir -- we didn't mean any harm," he tries, but the man is leaning closer and he's feeling woozy and his heart is hammering and where is Geol Oh anyway? But no, he can't keep relying on Jae Shin to pull him out of trouble all the time, he thinks, so when he sees an opening he tries to make a run for it.

It almost works.

"Leaving so soon?"

Yong Ha is jerked backwards by a sharp grip on his  _hanbok_ , and almost loses his balance when a dark figure lands between them with a choked sound and abruptly breaks the grip. The man flails briefly, and then the figure is after him.

Struggling to his feet, Yong Ha can't decide if he's relieved or angry at Jae Shin's  _lousy_ ,  _pathetic_  timing.

"Are you all right, Senior?" Sun Joon's voice comes out quick, breathless as he steadies Yong Ha.

There is no patter of feet behind Sun Joon, or slight figure running after him, and Yong Ha's heart is in his mouth as he asks, "Yoon Hee?" 

"We made her stay behind. I'm sorry, that's what made us so late."

Sun Joon sounds incredibly guilty, but his figure is solid behind Yong Ha, and Yong Ha wonders if he would be doing Yoon Hee a wrong if he leaned back on Sun Joon, just a little. He isn't too sure if he can support his weight, after the adrenaline rush has passed, and maybe leaning on something can mask how wobbly he's feeling right now, or how badly his knees are shaking.

Sun Joon must feel it, because he tightens his grip. "Hey... Are you all right?"

"You idiot! What did you think you were doing?"

Yong Ha opens his mouth to answer. but then Jae Shin is right there in front of him, and somehow he finds enough strength to lurch forward and hug him tightly because it's been  _such_ a long night, even longer than that time they rescued Jae Shin from being locked up at home.

Jae Shin is warm and safe and comforting, and he smells of soap and freshly laundered blankets. Yong Ha wants to wrap this feeling of safeness around himself layer by layer until he stops shaking.

Jae Shin's hands come up to settle on his back, but he remains absolutely silent. Yong Ha cringes, and tries to put off facing Jae Shin's anger for as long as he possibly can. Maybe another five minutes. Maybe another day. They could just stand there until the sun rises. Maybe he could even pretend they weren't out catching a rapist, just hanging out like friends do on a street in the middle of the night.

But as Jae Shin starts to pull away, Yong Ha panics and blurts out, "I'm sorry I messed up! I wasn't paying attention, and I took the wrong road, and I  _know_  you guys reminded me to take the second turn -- "

"Don't you ever do that again."

Yong Ha flinches, but then Jae Shin is grabbing him fiercely again.

"I don't think I could take if it I lost you."


End file.
